BlackRock led group to buy Aligned Data Centers for about $40 billion

A consortium led by BlackRock, Microsoft and Nvidia announced on Wednesday that it has agreed to buy Aligned Data Centers for about $40 billion, in a transaction expected to close in the first half of 2026. The buyer group, organized as the Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Partnership, said the acquisition is aimed at securing large-scale capacity for cloud and artificial intelligence workloads as demand for specialized data center infrastructure rises.

Aligned, based in Plano, Texas, operates roughly 50 campuses and has more than 5 gigawatts of operational and planned capacity across the United States and Latin America. The company, which builds and operates colocation facilities for hyperscalers and enterprise clients, will remain under current chief executive Andrew Schaap and keep its headquarters in Dallas after the deal, the consortium said. Macquarie Asset Management is selling the business.

The consortium, which includes BlackRock, Global Infrastructure Partners, Microsoft, Nvidia, xAI, MGX, Temasek and the Kuwait Investment Authority among others, said it plans to deploy an initial $30 billion of equity capital with the potential to mobilize up to $100 billion...